Demilich
A Demilich is the remains of a lich who has lived for so long that most of his body has decayed into a pile of dust. This has left it unable to truly terrorize the world around it, yet it can still control the dust that formerly made up its body. The creature is notable for being a device the Dungeon Master can use to severely punish his players, such as erasing an overpowered character or even wiping out an entire party. Monster Manual descriptions 2nd Edition Demilich is a misleading term in that one might assume the "demi" refers to status. However, it refers to the state of the lich. Only a small part of the body of a lick remains—dust, the skull, and possibly a few bones. A lich is a human magic-user and/or cleric of surpassing evil who has taken the steps necessary to preserve its life force after death. Ultimate, even the undead life force of a lich begins to wane. Over centuries the lich form decays, and the evil soul roams strange planes unknown to even the wisest of sages. This remaining soul is a demilich. If the place of a demilich is entered, the demilich dust swirls into the air and forms a man-like shape. If this shape is ignored, it might dissipate in 3 rounds, for it can sometimes (25%) only advance and threaten, not harm. The dust form usually (75%) has the powers of a wraith even without additional energy factors. Any physical attack upon the shape will give it 1 factor of energy, however, and spell attacks give it 1 energy factor for every level of the spell used, i.e., a 3rd-level spell bestows 3 energy factors. Each factor is equal to a hit point, and if 50 energy factors are gained, the dust will form into a ghost manifestation controlled by the will of the demilich. This thing will attack immediately. The dust will waver and fallback if struck by blow or spell, as if suffering actual damage. Thus, formation of a ghost manifestation is not too improbable, even if no wraith manifestation existed. A demilich, its wraith manifestation, and its ghost manifestation cannot be turned by a cleric. Neither the wraith manifestation nor the ghost manifestation can actually be harmed. They have energy factors but no hit points. If the demilich is destroyed, the manifestation will be destroyed along with it. Otherwise, the wraith manifestation or ghost manifestation will remain. Left undisturbed, its energy factors dissipate at the rate of 1 per day until entirely gone. If any creature is so foolish as to touch the skull of a demilich, a terrible thing occurs. In addition to the possible wraith or ghost manifestation, a new attack begins. At the touch, the skull rises into the air. A demilich can sense which member of a party is the most powerful, and wit will usually select a member of the magic-user class over a member of the fighter class, a fighter over a cleric, a cleric over a thief. The skull will then give off a howling sound equal to a death ray for a 20-foot radius. All creatures within the radius of effect of this howl must save vs. spell or be permanently slain and forever dead. On the next round a new attack will take place. Each demilich has 5-8 gems set in its skull's eye sockets and in place of teeth. Each of these gems is a jewel which can draw the soul from any character and trap it within the jewel's confines. The demilich will use 1 of these soul-draining jewels to draw the life force from 1 of the offending intruders. The soul of the strongest will be drawn instantly from his or her body and trapped. The character's body will collapse and moulder in a single round and be totally gone. No saving throw is possible; the attack is irresistible. An amulet of life protection will prevail over the lifestealing powers of a gem, but the character's body will perish nonetheless. The skull will then sink down again, sated. If it is struck or touched a 2nd time, it will again rise and howl and then drain the soul of the next strongest character into another gem. This process recurs as long as the skull is still intact and continues to be molested. If all jewels are filled, then only the killing howl will be possible thereafter, but the monster can also pronounce a curse upon the remaining antagonists. Such curses are very powerful and may include: always to be hit by any opponent attacking; never to make a saving throw; or always to lose all treasure without gaining any experience from it. The curse can be removed by a remove curse spell, but the charisma of the character so treated will drop permanently by 1 point. (Magical increase of charisma remains possible of course.) The skull of a demilich must be destroyed if the monster is to be exterminated. It can be harmed only as follows: :A forget spell will force the skull to sink down without howling or taking away a soul. :A shatter spell cast upon it inflicts 3-18 points of damage. :A power word kill pronounced from an astral or ethereal magic-user destroys it. :A fighter or ranger with a vorpal blade, sword of sharpness, sword +5, or vorpal weapon; a paladin with a vorpal weapon; or a paladin with a +4 or better weapon inflict full normal damage upon the skull. :Exorcise or forget spells cause it to sink. :A dispel evil spell cast upon it inflicts 5-8 points of damage. :A holy word pronounced against it inflicts 5-30 points of damage. :Any character with a +4 or better magic weapon or a mace of disruption can inflict 1 point of damage upon the skull each time it is struck. A demilich's skull takes 50 hit points before it is destroyed, and it is armor class -6. If the skull is destroyed, a saving throw vs. spell must be made for any gem trapping a soul as if the character trapped within it was doing so. Those gems for which saving throws failed contain no life-force; the demilich has drained the souls and devoured them before being destroyed. If a throw succeeds, that gem still contains the character's soul, and this is evidenced by a faint inner light or, if viewed with true seeing, true sight, or a gem of seeing, a tiny figure is visible within the gem. The soul can be freed by crushing the gem, but some material body must be within a 10-foot distance and ready to receive it, such as a clone, a simulacrum, or a soulless body. The demilich dust and any other remaining bits must be destroyed by holy water or the craeture will re-form over 1-10 days. Notes *The Demilich has been featured on several popular Top 10 Stupidest Dungeons & Dragons Monsters articles that have popped up over the years. Category:Dungeons & Dragons Universe Category:Creatures Category:Fictional Creatures Category:Humanoids Category:Undeads Category:Magical Creatures Category:CE Category:Extreme